49 Apocalypse Rules

Chapter 130: Chapter 123: The Rule Ends...

After Guan Tong discovered the commission was an official attempt to bait him, he withdrew his Shadow.

Shortly after, he posted a direct statement on the website, declaring zero tolerance for deception, fraudulent commissions, and fake transactions.

As an example, he publicly banned the accounts of the commissioner, "Flying Owl," and the user who had previously claimed to be a warehouse manager.

The moment the post went up, replies surged.

"What’s going on?"

"So those two were attempting a fake trade. I knew it! Reselling food from the supply depot for a few Sublimation Coins is just too bold."

"Good riddance! It’s hard enough to find a decent platform for communication. We can’t let these scammers ruin it!"

"I support the admin! You should IP ban them too, so they can’t just register new accounts."

The users were overwhelmingly supportive of Guan Tong’s decision. As the Apocalypse Rules became more ingrained, relationships between people grew increasingly strained, and tolerance for scammers hit an all-time low. Everyone desperately hoped for a trustworthy and reliable platform.

After the two accounts were banned, the official network department staff noticed immediately. The news was relayed and eventually reached the first squad, who were still waiting at the trap site.

The captain, Dragon Soul, was stunned when he heard. He had no idea how the site admin could have found out.

If he had come to scout the location, there was no way they wouldn’t have noticed him.

The camp was not only equipped with various electronic detection and scanning devices, but a member of their team, "Night Owl," also possessed a special reconnaissance ability that allowed him to sense the "gazes" of others within a certain range.

They couldn’t figure out how the trap had been discovered under these circumstances.

However, they didn’t have time to dwell on the issue, as an urgent message arrived from Dr. Zhang.

(The fifth squad is in trouble seventeen kilometers away from your position. Go provide support immediately!)

Upon seeing the message, Dragon Soul didn’t hesitate. He immediately led his squad members into their vehicle and sped toward the target location.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield between the fifth squad and the Qingmei team, both sides had suffered casualties after the first exchange.

The fifth squad’s breacher, Old Iron, was gravely wounded by the headphone-wearing youth and then killed by a Sound Hunter.

As for the Qingmei team, the young man with glasses was killed by a saturation attack of items.

Both sides now had four members left. They seemed evenly matched, but that wasn’t the case.

Xu You stared at the enemy. His Psychic Power had been almost completely drained by the headphone-wearing youth. Furthermore, based on the latter’s performance, he could switch between two states: "absorption" and "release."

When his pupils were black, he could absorb Psychic Power through eye contact. He didn’t just absorb it from people; he could even absorb the energy from Psychic-Power-related attacks.

When his pupils turned white, he released the Psychic Power in the form of "inch-long glints." Old Iron, who was tough as nails and had several defensive items, hadn’t been able to block them and was grievously wounded as a result. This showed just how astonishingly powerful those attacks were.

Such a bizarre and powerful ability was proving to be a real headache for him.

Among the other three, Gu Fei was fast and a formidable close-quarters combatant. Without Old Iron, if Gu Fei got close, he, Zhang Qian, and Liu Ze would be in grave danger.

Then there was the sweater-wearing boy who could combine building-block items into multi-form weapons. The fact that he could hold his own against Xu Wei proved his strength was not to be underestimated.

And finally, that little girl...

Xu You frowned as he looked at the girl standing by the car in the rear. She looked to be in elementary or middle school.

The girl hadn’t made a move yet, so her abilities were unknown. She might be a support member, but they couldn’t let their guard down until they were sure.

Just then, the headphone-wearing youth’s eyes turned from white to black. The four members of the fifth squad immediately averted their gazes to avoid eye contact, which would lead to their Psychic Power being absorbed.

Xu Wei gestured to Xu You, asking what they should do now.

Xu You’s last decision on Holy Grail Island had led to his squad being nearly wiped out. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Unable to counter the headphone-wearing youth’s ability, their only option was to retreat for now.

If they continued fighting, they might be able to eliminate more of the enemy, but their own side would surely suffer more casualties. The losses would outweigh the gains.

He gave the signal to retreat. Though the other three were reluctant, they immediately obeyed the order.

Xu Wei used some unknown ability to suddenly become incredibly fast. She shouldered Old Iron’s body, carried it to their vehicle, and drove off with the rest of her team.

Gu Fei saw this and started to give chase, but after two steps, he turned his head to look at the headphone-wearing youth. The latter had just glanced at his phone, apparently having received a message.

The headphone-wearing youth then held up his phone. Displayed on it was the message he had just received: (The officials have sent the first squad as reinforcements. Don’t get tied down.)

Gu Fei’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the message. ’What kind of organization have I joined? They can even track the first squad’s movements?’

He knew the first squad was different from the other four. The members of the other squads came from various backgrounds, but most were selected from registered civilians.

But the five members of the first squad, led by Dragon Soul, all had military backgrounds. They were the most reliable, the most powerful, and had received the most resources and training.

If one had to choose a single squad from the five to represent North Star Country as its national team, it would undoubtedly be the first squad.

This team’s operations were highly classified. Back when Gu Fei was captain of the third squad, he had once heard Dr. Zhang mention that besides himself, only the person in charge had the authority to know about the first squad’s movements. The few other authorized individuals were all outside the base.

’Could the organization I joined be connected to one of those people?’

Gu Fei didn’t have time to overthink it. The rest of his team was already in the car. At a signal from the headphone-wearing youth, he stuffed the body of the unlucky guy with glasses into the trunk, then got in the car and left.

A short time later, the retreating fifth squad ran into the first squad, which had come to provide support.

After the two squads rendezvoused, they returned to the battle site, but the enemy was long gone.

The five members of the Dragon Soul Squad had already received some intelligence in their vehicle. They examined the battle scene, collected a sample of the enemy’s blood from the ground, and planned to take it back for DNA comparison and verification.

The two squads then aborted their original plans and returned to the base together.

...

[The Rule period has ended.]

At nine o’clock the next morning, the month-long "Universal Silence" was finally lifted, announced by the voice of the Fire Thief.

[Congratulations on passing the trial of the seventh Apocalypse Rule.]

[Your reward has been delivered to your Storage.]

[The eighth Apocalypse Rule will be announced in thirty days.]

After listening to the Fire Thief’s announcement, Guan Tong felt it was unusually brief this time.

Thinking back, he realized the Sublimation Store hadn’t added any new items.

’That’s a bit strange. Could it be that the eighth rule is going to be special?’

But that was a month away. No need to overthink it now.

Finally able to speak freely again, Guan Tong removed the gag he had fashioned from electrical tape and cloth. His mouth felt a little numb.

"Coal... Coal Ball."

Having not spoken for a month, Guan Tong found his own voice sounded unfamiliar when he spoke again.

And while a month didn’t seem long, he could clearly feel that speaking had become somewhat difficult.

It reminded him of news reports he had read about people whose linguistic abilities degenerated after long periods of not speaking, which in turn led to a certain rigidity in their thinking.

’It’s a good thing the rule only lasted a month. If it had gone on for half a year or a full year, everyone would probably need a long time just to get used to speaking again afterward.’

"Meow?"

Coal Ball, who was scratching a tree to sharpen its claws, heard Guan Tong’s voice and quickly ran over. It let out a questioning sound, its big green eyes staring at him curiously.

Presumably, the fact that Guan Tong hadn’t called its name for a month and was now suddenly speaking was quite strange to its small brain.

Guan Tong rubbed Coal Ball’s head. "This rule is finally over... A lot of people must have been driven crazy."

Although he lived on a mountain, he wasn’t cut off from the world.

The moment he went online, he could see whatever was happening in the world.

Over the past month, especially in the latter half, many people had posted that they couldn’t take it anymore. They wrote about people in their Gathering Points or shelters having mental breakdowns, screaming and shouting, and some even taking their own lives.

On Guan Tong’s own website, a user nicknamed "Free Cloud" had posted in a complaint thread he started. The user’s last update stated that he had completely despaired of this world and was going to leave it.

Many people thought he was joking, but someone from the same shelter later revealed the news. The person’s real name was Wu Yun, and he had indeed committed suicide in the shelter’s bathroom.

When the news broke, many people under the post expressed their condolences. Guan Tong also used his admin account to post "Rest in peace."

After he posted his reply, some users replied to him, saying it was a good thing he created the "Ascender’s Home" website. Having a place to chat about related topics in the off-topic section and vent their feelings might have saved them from going down the same path.

There were many similar replies, as many users had discovered that on other social media sites, topics related to "taking one’s own life" seemed to be blocked and couldn’t be discussed at all.

In Guan Tong’s eyes, this seemed like an attempt to prevent people from resorting to extreme measures during the era of Apocalypse Rules, but it was actually a counterproductive attempt to cover things up. Concealing a problem didn’t mean it didn’t exist. To solve a problem, one first had to acknowledge its existence.

Moreover, Guan Tong believed the harm this rule had inflicted on humanity would likely be long-lasting. It was like a wound that leaves a scar; just because it has healed doesn’t mean it’s gone.

"Terminal Panel."

Guan Tong spoke to summon the panel. He usually did this mentally, but now that he could finally speak, he said it aloud as if to compensate.

[Name: Guan Tong]

[Nickname: Ascender’s Home Admin]

[Title: Victor]

[Psychic Power: 145 (145) (2950)]

[Sublimation Coins: 413,620]

[Overall Bio-Information Evaluation: Excellent]

His Psychic Power had increased steadily, up 4 points from before the rule. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

The increase in his Sublimation Coins, however, was a great leap forward, jumping from three digits to six. Without a doubt, it was all from selling Communication Secret Scrolls.

With over 400,000 Sublimation Coins, Guan Tong finally had the confidence to shop in the terminal’s market. But he wasn’t in a hurry. He would open his reward first.

He opened his Storage, where a Silver Level Survival Treasure Chest from passing the rule had appeared. Opening it yielded a ring.

[Storage Ring]: Contains 1 cubic meter of storage space. Can be used to store items, regardless of whether they are related to Psychic Power. Tradable.

"Isn’t this a Storage Ring?" Guan Tong was surprised by the item he got. "But it only has a volume of 1 cubic meter... Well, for a Silver Level chest, I guess that’s understandable."

One cubic meter wasn’t actually that small. You could stuff three or four adults in there, or a lot of other things. But on second thought, Guan Tong realized he could just keep his supplies and other things in his shelter.

However, summoning the shelter consumed a lot of Psychic Power, whereas this ring didn’t require any to deposit or withdraw items. This meant he could store frequently used items inside it.

Guan Tong thought for a moment, put on the ring, and then placed his "Silver Hunter" firearm inside.

He used this gun very often, but because retracting it into the [Wordless Book] would empty the bullets, he had always carried it on his person. Now he could just put it in the ring, and the bullets would still be there when he took it out.

BUZZ... BUZZ...

He had just finished testing the ring’s storage function when the phone in his pocket began to vibrate. He pulled it out and saw that the caller ID surprisingly showed Wang Yan.